Govt mulling single emergency number

TRAI has sought public comments on making 100 or 108 as single number for entire country just like 911 or 999 are in USA.

Government of India is finally waking up and through TRAI has started a process of setting up a single number, either 100 or 108, for all emergency situations across the country. People will be able to call this number in various emergencies like fire or medical or accidents.
At present, just the Delhi police uses numbers like 100, 1096, 1090, and multitudes of other numbers calling it woman and child helpline, anti-stalking helpline. These helplines over the years have mushroomed with each new ghastly event like the December 16th gang rape incident post which the Delhi government had set up 181 as the new helpline for women. All this means that it is virtually impossible to figure out which number to call especially when you are stressed in an emergency.
Many countries have single emergency numbers like 911 in USA, 999 in UK and 000 in Australia.

TRAI has released a consultation paper on "Universal Single Number Based Integrated Emergency Communication and Response System (IECRS)” for this purpose.
"In India, number 100 which is reserved for calling Police services is very popular. This makes 100 a suitable candidate for the choice of single number for IECRS," TRAI said.
However, 108 emergency service managed by EMRI ( Emergency Management and Research Institute) across more than ten states is becoming popular as an emergency response system, TRAI added.
TRAI has also sought comments if there should be primary or secondary access numbers in the country on the lines of other countries.
"A secondary emergency response number also exists in some countries like 112 in UK (in addition to 999), 112 in Australia (in addition to 000). Calls from this number are again routed to primary response numbers in these countries," TRAI said.
It, however, said there are challenges in its implementation particularly when there are various government departments involved in handling different types of emergencies. This is a weird comment as anywhere in the world only medical department will handle medical emergencies, fire will be handled by fire department etc. So there is nothing new in India. What is needed is a simple software, and call center that directs these calls intelligently to these departments.
TRAI has also asked if emergency number access be allowed from inactive SIMs or handsets without SIMs and how the funding requirement should be met for costs involved in implementation of IECRS. This is again in our opinion a question that is not even needed to be asked. Providing emergency services is one of the core duties of the government and therefore be funded by the government and of course it has to be offered on all phones.

Airtel 4G launched in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula

Delhi and Mumbai are expected to be the next one to get it.

Bharti Airtel has launched 4G (LTE) services in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula. The service will offer data download speeds up to 100 Mbps. Airtel had already launched its 4G services in Kolkata, Bangalore and Pune.
The service will be able to support streaming of High Definition (HD) videos, and other services that work on high speed networks. However unlike Pune, where the company has announced support for voice services, in rest of the circles including Chandigarh no such announcement has been made.
Also, Airtel has launched the LTE service with only two devices - a 4G multimode Dongle and a WiFi router (CPE) both priced at Rs 4,999. It has five unlimited plans with high speed data limit post which users will get speed of 128 Kbps only. The unlimited plans start at Rs 999 for 6 GB. There are Rs 1,399, Rs 1,999, Rs 2,999 and Rs 4,799 plans as well for which you would get 9 GB, 18 GB, 30 GB and 50 GB of high speed data respectively.

Airtel is offering discounts with all these plans. For instance, in the Rs 999 plan, you will get Rs 147 back every month for six months. Similarly, Rs 1,399 plan gives Rs 466 off for 6 months, Rs 312 is waived off every month for 12 months in the Rs 1,999 plan. In the other two plans, you will get Rs 417 off every month for 12 months.
Airtel is also offering Smartbytes, which basically allows you to buy extra high speed data quota. These are priced at Rs 600, Rs 875 and Rs 1500 offering 3 GB, 5 GB and 10 GB extra data.
The plans are not very expensive when you compare these with 3G services, and since all the plans are unlimited you will not even get a bill shock. However, currently there are no tablets or smartphones in the market which are compatible to use the 4G services, so you can only make use of the 4G network with your laptops or as a home/office broadband network.
Airtel is currently the only player to offer 4G services in the country. However once players like Reliance Industries (RIL) launches their service we will see more competition and a steep drop in 4G data tariffs.
In 2010, Airtel had successfully bid for BWA license spectrum in Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) circles. Additionally, last year, Bharti Airtel acquired 49 percent interest in Qualcomm's India entities that hold BWA licenses in Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala.
The company has said that it is currently working towards rolling out state-of-the-art networks in remaining license circles. And we know from our sources that Delhi and Mumbai circles are next in line for the launch.

Bengaluru's 2 main roads to get free WiFi

The Karnataka state government will soon provide free WiFi service on Mahatma Gandhi Road and Brigade Road in Bengaluru.

The Karnataka state government will soon provide free WiFi service on Mahatma Gandhi Road and Brigade Road in Bengaluru. The service is expected to start around next month which will make Bangalore the first city to have such a service, Economic Times has reported.
The idea is the brainchild of a government-appointed panel headed by Mohandas Pai, a former director at Infosys. The pilot service will be available for at least six months, after which panel will evaluate the network and announce possible expansion plans.

"A smartphone revolution is happening in India, but connectivity is still an issue here. We wanted to provide seamless internet access to people," said Pai, who is also the chairman of the Manipal Global Education.
The decision to offer free wireless broadband access was taken last year and the recommendations of the ICT group were sent to Karnataka's chief minister in January. Bangalore-based internet service provider D-VoiS has been assigned to implement the pilot free of charge. "Once the pilot finishes, we will talk to other private ISPs and figure out a revenue-sharing model," Pai said.
However, what kind of revenue model can be generated is not clear, moreover opposition from 3G and 4G service providers is expected as the free WiFi service will impact their revenues.

Videocon Mobiles to offer 4G service from Dec 2013 onwards

Videocon Telecommunication will offer LTE or 4G services in seven circles.

Videocon Telecommunication will offer LTE or 4G services in seven circles of Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, UP west, UP East, Bihar and Jharkhand from December this year.
Speaking at a press conference in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Arvind Bali, director and chief executive officer, Videocon Telecommunication said, "In this auction, we have right to offer 2G, 3G, LTE and other high-end data services to customers. We are not interested in 3G but have started working on launching 4G or LTE services in all the seven circles. We will hit the market with the service by December 2013”.

Videocon has selected Nokia Siemens network to roll-out the 4G network. Notably, Videocon Telecommunication is the only player in India to launch FD-LTE services in India, unlike other players who will launch 4G services using TDD LTE network.
This move by Videocon is thus important as handsets like Nokia Lumia, Apple iPhone 5, and LG Optimus G support FD-LTE, but there are no devices right now that support the TDD-LTE network which has been deployed by Airtel will also be used by RIL, Aircel and Tikona when then commence their 4G services.
FD LTE offers data speeds in excess of 100 Mbps and also offer voice services with HD(high definition) clarity. The service will also be used to offer services like video chat, mobile TV, HD TV content, digital video broadcasting etc.
Videocon has bagged only up to 5 MHZ spectrum which will be very less if the service becomes popular as data services consume a lot of bandwidth.

MTS launches customisable dongles with 15GB data free

MTS has launched dongles with stickers for Rs 1,299.

MTS, CDMA operator with operations in 9 circles, has launched a new customisable dongle priced at Rs 1,299. User can customise the dongle using stickers which has themes like music, gaming and lifestyle.

Along with that MTS dongle offers additional benefits like free 15 GB data and value added service(VAS) over a period of six months.

But, there is a catch to get free data. MTS customers need to recharge their account with Rs 248 for six months and in return during the first month they will get 4GB data free and unlimited access to social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn; for the next three months subscribers will get 3GB data free followed by 1GB data free in 5th and 6th month. These goodies will be in addition to regular data limit of 1GB under the Rs 248 plan.
In terms of VAS customers will get free subscription to MTS TV,MTS Music and MTS Games On Demand for two months. Data benefits will be given over a period of six months.

Going forward, MTS also plans to launch an online platform where people can select the design to be put on the dongles. These dongles will be available in Delhi NCR, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
MTS recently won back spectrum in 8 circles and already had spectrum in Rajasthan, and this is the first major announcement from the CDMA operator post getting back spectrum which was canceled by Supreme court. And given the kind of offer they have come up with, it looks like they will focus on regaining their ground by some very attractive pricing.

No MNP for subscribers of Uninor, MTS & Videocon

 

MNP service will not be available to subscribers of operators whose licenses were canceled by the Supreme Court.

Mobile number portability service will not be available to subscribers of operators whose licenses were canceled by the Supreme Court in February last year.
However this is applicable only to circles where these operators did not win spectrum in recently held auctions, in which MTS won spectrum in 9 circles, Uninor and Videocon in 6 circles each.
Worst hit will be MTS subscribers in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (East) as auction for CDMA was held only on 11th March and MTS chose not to buy spectrum in these circles, and had just started process of informing subscribers asking them to port to other networks. Every other service provider has already (more or less) completed the process of shifting their subscribers to other networks.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has issued direction to all existing telecom operators to stop accepting porting (transfer) request of mobile numbers that were allocated to telecom companies whose permits to operate stands cancelled as per Supreme Court order.
The regulator said, "All the Mobile Number Portability service providers not to process and all the Unified Access Service Providers (telecom operators) should not to entertain request for porting in respect of mobile telephone numbers belonging to the service providers."
In the direction, TRAI has asked to stop accepting porting request from Tata Teleservices (3 service area), Unitech Wireless , now Uninor (15 service area), Videocon (11 service area), Loop (13 service area), Etisalat (15 service area), S Tel (5 service area) and SSTL (10 service area) where the companies lost their licences.
The TRAI direction comes following Supreme Court order of February 2, 2012 and February 15, 2012 asking telecom operators to close their operations.
Last year, the apex court cancelled 122 2G licences but gave the operators a chance to continue operations only if they acquire fresh spectrum through auction.

MTS wins spectrum in eight circles

MTS will close operations in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (East) though.

CDMA operator, MTS has won spectrum in eight circles including Delhi, Kolkata, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh (West) and West Bengal. However, it has failed to gain spectrum for Mumbai, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (East).
MTS had spectrum in 22 circles out of which 21 licenses were cancelled by the Supreme Court in February 2012; its license in Rajasthan was not canceled by Supreme Court then. Later MTS decided to close its operation in 10 circles (whose licenses it had lost by the SC ruling) including Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, North East, Orissa and Punjab.

Now since it only bought spectrum in eight circles, it will have to close down operations in three more circles including Mumbai, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh (East).
In a statement, the company said, "While bidding for spectrum in the auctions, MTS India considered a range of variables including spectrum pricing, number of carrier slots available, levels of competition, future data potential in the circles etc. Based on such criteria, the company also decided not to bid for Mumbai, Maharashtra and UP East circles and would be immediately initiating the process to inform its customers in 3 circles to port out to other telecom operators of their choice".
Vsevolod Rozanov, president and chief executive officer of Sistema Shyam TeleServices (MTS parent company), "Given the range of variables we have considered and the spectrum cost for 800 MHz, it was a big challenge to arrive at a core list of 8 circles and to bid accordingly. With Rajasthan circle also a part of MTS India's footprint, we would be able to service 40% of country's population, address over 60% of data business potential, safeguard 75% of our current revenues and significantly optimize our losses. Our go forward plan includes building an even stronger MTS brand in the country by focusing on our data centric-voice enabled strategy."
The spectrum won by SSTL in eight circles is technology neutral (it can offer 2G, 3G or even 4G services using this spectrum) and would be valid for 20 years. The company would be required to pay Rs 3,639 crores for the license period. The terms include payment of 25 per cent of the final bid amount within 10 days, followed by a payment moratorium until March 2016, after which the balance amount will be paid in 10 equal annual installments. The Government of India has confirmed that SSTL will be able to set off the previous license cost of Rs 1,626 crores against the new spectrum cost.
The company also said that 15 percent of its employees are employed in the three circles where the company decided not to bid and would therefore be affected and that full efforts are being made to absorb maximum number of employees in other circles or to place some of the employees in other Companies.
MTS has a customer base of over 12.1 million, out of which 13 per cent come from the impacted circles.